HISTORY OF JAZZ MIDTERM

Which of the following best describes "Dixieland Jazz"?

A term for New Orleans-style jazz played by white bands

Sharp

A tone that is a half-step above a given tone

Flat

A tone that is a half-step below a given toneF

The first great tenor saxophonist, he developed a warm, full sound that was emulated by many who came after him.

Coleman Hawkins

Pianist and band leader, he developed a more relaxed, swinging style of jazz.

Count Basie

A French gypsy guitarist, he is considered the first great European jazz musician.

Django Reinhardt

The greatest composer of the swing era; pianist, composer, arranger, and band leader; he had an extraordinary knack for utilizing the distinctive sounds of his sidemen in his charts.

Duke Ellington

He played acoustic guitar in count Basie's orchestra. His approach added a buoyancy to the Basie rhythm section that no other big band had.

Freddie Green

Diatonic Scale

A seven-note musical scale made up of five whole steps and two half-steps

Octave

A span of eight letter-name notes

A pitch that doesn't quite fit in the traditional 12-note scale.

blue note

Which of the following is a synonym for "urban blues"?

classic blues

Which of the following describes a characteristic feature of New Orleans jazz in which multiple instrumentalists improvise together, creating a distinctive polyphony?

collective improvisation

Count Basie pared down the role of piano in the rhythm section and pioneered the spontaneous, off-the-beat style of playing known as:

comping

Which of the following refers to the rhythmic, improvised accompaniment on piano?

comping

Piano music is typically notated using the _________ staff.

grand

The two most often used scales in the Western European music tradition are the major scale and the:

minor scale

The span of eight letter-name notes is called:

octave

An accent on an unexpected part of the measure, that strengthens weak beats and undermines the strong ones produces:

syncopation

The musical language of ________ is characterized by the fundamental harmonic relationship between tonic and dominant.

tonality

According to the text, the most common clefs are:

treble & bass

A chord in which each note is separated from the next by a third is known as a:

triad

There is general consensus that jazz is characterized by three essential features. These three essential features are:

Improvisation, swing feeling, bluesy flavor

Composer, pianist, and band leader, he was one of the great early New Orleans jazz musicians and one of the first musicians to bring together elements of ragtime piano and blues in a rhythmic manner that suggested swing eighth notes.

Jelly Roll Morton

He was one of the earliest drummers to play the ride rhythm on the hi-hat as it was opening and closing, producing a smoother, more sustained rhythm.

Jo Jones

A cornetist and band leader, he made some of the earliest recordings of New Orleans jazz in 1923. Louis Armstrong was a member of his band.

Joe "King" Oliver

Alto saxophonist, the most celebrated soloist in Ellington's orchestra; his sultry, ballad style of playing is featured on a number of tunes, notably "Warm Valley."

Johnny Hodges

Which piece played by the Count Basie band features a series of alternating solos between the tenor saxophonist and the pianist-—even to the point of "trading fours" in the fourth chorus?

Lester Leaps In

The most outstanding soloist in Count Basie's band, he was a tenor saxophonist noted for a linear style of playing that conveyed progressive harmonic implications. He was nicknamed "Pres."

Lester Young

One of the first vibraphonists, he established own orchestra after a sideman stint with Benny Goodman.

Lionel Hampton

A diatonic, seven-note scale that progresses in whole (W) and half (H) steps according to the W W H W W W H pattern is known as:

Major scale

Which of the following denotes a short, catchy melodic gesture?

Riff

A clarinetist and soprano saxophonist, he was one of the great early New Orleans jazz musicians, known for his blues-infused improvisations.

Sidney Bechet

Which of the following best describes "scat singing"?

Singing nonsense syllables while improvising a melodic vocal solo

What musical term is used to describe the speed of the beat?

Tempo

The use of the growl style gave the brass a more vocal quality, and contributed to:

The "Ellington Effect"

One of Fletcher Henderson's major contributions to the Swing style was the way he structured his band. Which statement accurately describes this organization?

The band would be divided into three sections: reeds, brass, and rhythm.

Whole Step

The combination of two semitones; also known as a tone or a whole tone

Which one of the following is NOT true of jazz?

The music reflects the experience of the New Orleans upper class, who had the leisure time to create it

Half-Step

The smallest pitch difference between two sounds in most Western music systems; also known as a semitown

TRUE OR FALSE: The function of the clef is to indicate the range of pitches to be played.

True

One of the first masters of the walking bass, his association with Basie goes back to the 1920s. He possessed a superb sense of timing that helped promote the bass to its role as principal timekeeper in the band.

Walter Page

A 12-bar blues chorus normally consists of what formal scheme?

A A B

Quadruple Meter

A meter featuring four beats per measure, typically with a strong accent on the first beat and a slightly lesser accent on the third beat.

Pickup

A note or a group of notes preceding the first beat of the first measure

While seemingly very dissimilar, ragtime piano and the marches played by brass bands actually shared much in common. Only one characteristic below is unique to ragtime piano. Which one is it?

Abundant syncopation in the melody above the steady duple background.

What musical feature distinguishes ragtime melodies from the ones used in the marches of brass bands?

Almost constant syncopation

Syncopation

An accent on a note somewhere unexpected, off the main beats.

One of the great jazz pianists coming out of the stride tradition, he possessed extraordinary facility, combining dazzling technique with a marvelous feel for the blues; he is noted for his chord substitutions, and is reputed to have never lost a cutting contest:

Art Tatum

Nicknamed "Lady Day," she is considered by many the most expressive and deeply moving jazz vocalist of any era.

Billie Holiday

An early important white trumpeter, his improvisations conveyed an advanced harmonic conception.

Bix Beiderbecke

A star trumpeter who developed a "growl style" of playing that lent the trumpet a more vocal quality; featured soloist on East St. Louis Toodle-Oo.

Bubber Miley

An early jazz pianist from Pittsburgh who recorded with Louis Armstrong on "West End Blues," he had a horn-like style of improvisation.

Earl Hines

Early (or rural) blues may be readily distinguished from classic (or urban) blues in several ways. Which statement below is NOT accurate?

Even in early (or rural) blues, the 12-bar form was firmly established.

TRUE OR FALSE: The banjo plays a solo during the first 30 seconds of Jelly Roll Morton's "Black Bottom Stomp."

False

TRUE OR FALSE: The first 50 seconds of "East St. Louis Toodle-oo" feature a "wa-wa" solo by Joe Nanton on the trombone.

False

TRUE OR FALSE: The placement of the notes on the staff indicates their duration.

False

A pioneer in the emerging swing style of jazz; his charts featured a call-and-response that would pit the reeds against the brass, which became a model for most of the swing bands that followed; "Wrappin' It Up" was one of his band's notable pieces:

Fletcher Henderson

An early important white saxophonist, he played the distinctive C-melody saxophone and had a linear approach to improvisation.

Frankie Trumbauer.

What music genre would he following excerpt best fit in? (Maple Leaf Rag)

Ragtime

Select the term that best fits the following description:

chord

A single repetition of the chord progression used to organize music in an improvisation.

chorus

Which of the following is an instrument in the drum set that brings two cymbals together by means of a foot pedal?

hi-hat

A blue note is produced by:

pitch bending

Which of the following refers to the method of playing string instruments by plucking instead of bowing?

pizzicato

Several different rhythms sounding at the same time.

polyrhythm

What fundamental element of music may be defined as "the succession of articulated durations"?

rhythm

The distance between any two adjacent keys on the piano is called a:

semitone

Which of the following refers to a style of bass line in which each beat receives a separate tone, thus creating a moving sequence of quarter notes?

walking bass